> Daughter's friends tell her that Dell and Toshiba laptops are crap, the > only thing to have is a Mac because it will do multi-tasking, runs so > much faster than a PC
Both systems will mutli-task and have for years. Windows did this first, but that's ancient history. "Runs so much faster" is highly subjective. A 2-year old Macbook will be spanked by a new Dell in terms of performance and vice versa. > and it is so much more reliable than PC. YMMV. "PC" is not a monolithic term like Mac. Many vendors and differing levels of quality. Dell and Toshiba are typically tops in quality for PCs. Lenovo (formerly IBM) has a good rep too. A careless user can hose a Mac as quickly as they can a PC. > Based > on these comments, she thinks that she should get a Mac. Hopefully, they don't comment about playing in traffic if she's this easily swayed. The computer is a simply a tool and depending on what you are doing and your budget will determine what you get. At best, it's a preference; some people like the Mac platform, others Windows. Either will get the job done. You need to tell us what she wants to do and her criteria for what is acceptable. Does she want a lighter unit, or can she accept a couple extra pounds in exchange for a couple hundred dollars cheaper? What type of software will she need for classes? Will the school support the laptop? If not, what support is available locally? Go to the Dell site and poke around. They have many different configs and options. You should be able to pick up a very decent laptop for your daughter for around $1,000. The Dell outlet generally has even better prices, but the selection is limited to what is on hand. I've bought many different systems from the outlet and haven't been disappointed. Still, it never hurts to extend the warranty out to 3 years, especially since it's a laptop and will be lugged around. I have a couple Dell Inspiron 1501 laptops at work I bought from the outlet refurbed. No problems. Dell outlet Inspiron notebooks: http://tinyurl.com/jyr69 ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************